Wednesday.....almost done..

Well Wednesday turned out to be nice and fairly productive. We finished the stain on the lattice, straightened out the stairs ( no comments please) and the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Dar had me bring out all the deck furniture and we got the BBQ tank filled and are ready for Friday and our first guests. The stair railings haven't shown up yet but Sylas says they should arrive Thursday afternoon. Hope so. Having built and finished this project before April was just lucky. I truly thought that this wouldn't be done until May. Now if the contractor would only show up to do he retaining wall I can start of the fence...sigh!

Tuesday..lattice prison

Almost done. And today we put on the lattice around the perimeter of the deck bottom. This helps to keep out garbage and critters. Not a bad job except the idiot putting on the lattice managed to get himself trapped. It was being attached to the frame boards from the inside and after attaching the last section and not thinking (very well) managed to lock himself in under the deck. Luckily the "supervisor" unscrewed the first section and dummy crawled out. All in all it's not a bad looking job. Tomorrow the stair railings go on and the stair landing is adjusted so you don't go flying down the hill after stepping off the last step. And yes, we are going to finish the staining.

STAIRS!!!!!! DONE!!!!

Finally I accomplished what I thought was going to be hard and turned out it was...stairs are not easy to do, especially on a slope. Got them cut, set, and secured. Three stringers, 11" of tread and 7 risers. Only took the better part of a whole day and it turned out to be a nice day. By 6 PM I had just about done it all. Only thing left is to get the railing guys back to measure up the railing for the stairs and then stain this monster. But first it's BBQ time!!!.
Having very good freinds over Friday and we will christen the S.S. Deck. Tomorrow I'll finish off the lattice .....then.....out comes the Harley!!!! woooo-hooo.....

Sunday...where did spring go?

So the spring has disappeared?Well it feels that way. Today was a day I didn't feel like doing anything and ended up doing something. Put on the lattice screen on the south side of the deck to hide all the under crap. Looks not half bad and will look better after we stain it. Tomorrow , Rob, the framer, is going to show me how to cut and attach the stair stringers. That should be fun. Stay tuned.

Saturday...why work?

It's Saturday so why work? And besides it's cold out there. So only thing done was the first section of lattice to cover the lower portion of the deck. Monday the stairs go on and Wednesday..BBQ TIME!!

Friday...quiet day

Well Friday was a cold, sunny and quiet day. Went into Toronto to see my mother (oh I,m so glad we moved) and then came back home. Rob, the framer is going to cut my stair stringers Monday and then the deck will almost be complete. Next task will be the fence. should have everything done by May...not bad. This will leave a lot of time for riding and car cruises.

Thursday...is it done yet?

I'm holding the last of 958 screws that this wooden monster required.
Thursday and it's turning cold but I have completed the deck portion of the deck and installed the railings. All that is left is to cut some stair stringers ( this could be fun) and install them. Then the railing people return to measure up the railing for the steps. Because of the slope of the yard the steps may turn out to be a bitch. However one of the framers working across the street has offered to show me how to do it. He kinda owes me after I secured all his lumber the other night after strong winds decided to make paper airplanes out of a stack of 4X8 sheets of plywood. Luckily no damage was done. So by Monday I just might have stairs to this monstrosity.

Wednesday, railings...not that easy

So it was a lovely day today and the railing install started. Not so easy if your deck isn't 100% true or level. Some minor adjustments had to be made and one section slightly trimmed. That done, things went pretty well. Only have another 6 deck boards to screw down. I figured it out and I only have to screw into the boards 956 2.5" wood screws. Thankfully I have a couple of good corded drills. By-law requires that the railing is screwed to the decking using 6" x 3/8" lag bolts into blocker plates. Kind of overkill but these railing won't move anywhere.
While I was doing this some idiot set an old dump truck on fire in the field just south of us. Big event in Cobourg, we got one Rescue Pumper, one EMS unit, three Cobourg Police cruisers and the Cobourg Safety Unit? along with a photog from the local paper. Truck was a write off but it was junk anyway. Only the second time I've seen a fire truck on call since we moved here from Scarborough, far cry from the city.

Tuesday.....can you say railing?

Well Tuesday started out as a wet dreary day that showed no promise of progress until a phone call from the railing guy who said the railing was done and would be delivered that afternoon. So at about 3 PM he shows up and we now have a railing for the deck. They aren't bolted down yet because I have to set in blocker plates and finish screwing the deck boards down. Tomorrow looks like a promising day and hopefully we will have made some steady progress. Who knows this whole deck thing may be done by next week. BBQ time!!

Monday...colder and wet

Well the short summer tease is over and the cooler weather and rain has shown up to announce "SPRING"! So today was kinda slow. But the fellow from the railing company showed up and took the measurements and we'll have a railing by Friday afternoon. Still have to build the stairs but after doing some web research now know that the landing pad has to be the first thing done. When the rain stops the pad will be constructed then I can see if i can build some stairs. Already acquired the stain and all we need now is a nice day or two,....yeah right. Who knows maybe by April I can have my first BBQ on our new deck.

Sunday..not much..

So Saturday was a day of rest and we went to see Alice In Wonderland...hmmm..not bad but still just Alice In Wonderland. Liked Avatar better. Also went and bought a propane BBQ to replace the NG one we now have. Anyone want a good NG BBQ Cheap? Started to screw down the deck boards but quit when the rain started. Can't complain about the weather as I has a real good week to build. Stairs and Railing along with some stain is all that is left.

Friday, well what do you know..a deck!

Well it turned out to be a pretty good day. All the joists are in and we placed all the deck boards on the framing. It actually looks like a deck now. All that is left is to screw the boards down, measure up the railing, order it and build a set of stairs. And of course build a concrete pad for those stairs. Luckily I have 12 bags of cement left over from the original order.

Thursday ..framing begins.

Well another nice day and off we, the wife Supervisor, and I went to get this thing built. Assembled the beams and shit those buggers are heavy. (3 2x8x16 nailed together) Got the beam hangers in place in the concrete wall and with a little effort and help from my neighbour Bill, got the posts measured and cut and placed. We started to place the joist spacing them out along the ledger board at 16" centers. Helps to cut some spacer pieces to just slip in at the right measurement. An issue arouse which we will address tomorrow because I'm friggen bushed. Some of the joists are taller at the ledger then the others so we'll adjust the hangers to fit. Enough done today so time to rest. I keep forgetting I'm 60 years old!!....too bad eh? Oh well soon be sitting on the deck tossing back some Blue.....stay tuned for Friday's entry. BTW going to teach the Supervisor how to use a screw gun tomorrow, should be fun.

Wednesday.....concrete hell...

Well got the holes dug and all according to the Town By-laws...sweated my balls off doing that. Now!..I had to hand mix the pre-mixed concrete to put in the Sono tubes that were in the holes. Do you know how many 66lb bags it takes to fill four 48"X12" holes? Well it takes 24 bags..all mixed by hand in a wheel barrow on a sloping hill. Shit I'm 60 friggen years old and stubborn as an mule. Do it by hand and save a few bucks. Well did it and it's done. A couple of the posts are off center but close enough that it won't matter once the beams go on the 6x6 posts. Had enough time left to install the header board an bolt it to the wall. Really glad I bought that hammer drill when it was on for 60% off at CTC. Told you I was cheap. So tomorrow it's set the posts, build the beams, and start building this damn thing. Oh BTW the Supervisor helped out a bit, brought out water and held the odd piece of lumber. I'll make better use of her tomorrow.

Tuesday...red tape

Well it may be a small town but the red tape is just as prevalent as any big town ...but....here if you have question or are confused by the by-laws they help you..yes they actually care and take the time to explain the law and what you can and cannot do and without any ATTITUDE! Thank you Brian. So we have the building permit and real construction of the DECK.
The holes are being finished off, 48" doesn't sound like much but you try digging a hole 48" deep and 12" wide with a shovel and post hole digger into clay! By the time we had finished running around I only got one hole finished. Tube in, concrete in and it's level!..oh joy. Tomorrow is a full pier day.

Monday: Waiting Game...but holes dug.

Well Rona said my lumber would be here by 1:00 PM....showed up at 4:00 PM...oh well..in the meantime I saved a bit of coin by digging all the deck post holes by hand. Only took about 30 minutes per hole..the ground was actually pretty soft and easy to work. The last foot (4' holes ) is a bitch because the holes are only 12" wide, so I went and bought a post hole digger. I can use it to dig the fence post holes when the time comes. (next project). Not a bad day today but windy as hell. Luckily the wind was from the north and the deck is on the south side of the house. Tomorrow I finish the holes, set the tubes and mix the concrete, oh fun.

Sunday

Well we sprung forward today and all lost an hours sleep,but that really doesn't matter when you no longer have to get up at an insane hour to go to work in a cold damp windy and rain soaked day. So today I guess I'll just finish up painting the interior of our garage. Over the past month or so I've insulated the garage and lined the walls with OSB instead of drywall. Cheaper, and you can screw or nail anything to it. doesn't look as nice as drywall but with the paint it's not bad. As soon as it gets warmer I'll paint the floor and get rid of the dust. So with that I'm off to sniff latex.

Saturday

Well it's kinda cool, windy and damp today. Ordered the wood for the deck and next week that production starts. Dig the holes, mix the concrete, set the posts and then away we go. Shouldn't take more then a week to complete. Then it will be fence and landscaping time. right now I'm in the middle of painting the garage. Kind of a soft honey colour? Then the floor gets done. Soon the Harley will be moved out of the basement into the garage but first the deck wood all has to be used as there won't be space for all. Monza is in there now. The Dakota won't fit in the way it is set up now. Isn't retiremnet grand.

Catching up.

Well it's been a while since I've been on this eh? Since I last blogged we have sold our house in Scarborough, had a new house built in Cobourg, my wife has retired and as of Nov 2009 we are residents of Cobourg Ontario. It's a real nice town and we look forward to the spring and summer.

We moved the Monza and Harley to their new home shortly after we moved in. The garage has a "Harley" door directly into the basement and that is where she spent the winter. Lots to do this spring, build the deck, and the fence and hope the lots next to us get sold and built.

Oh and we sold the Ford and got a smaller truck to replace it. A 2009 Dodge Dakota SLT Laramie Edition. Dar picked the truck then haggled for it. She did a nice job and she will be my negotiator from now on.